1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates to automatic scrubbers for trays for bakery products.
2. Description of the Prior Art.
Various brush-type scrubbers have been advanced in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,365 shows a pan scrubber where the brushes rotate and reciprocate up and down, to insure getting bread crumbs out of baking pans. A vacuum hood and air blasts have been used for removing seeds from pans which are being scrubbed, and a vacuum hood is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,365. These hoods are primarily used in baking pans where various seeds such as sesame seeds or poppy seeds are left in the trays after the product has been baked and removed.
Power washers using high pressure nozzles and hoses have also been advanced, but these tend to leave materials that are difficult to remove, resulting in an insufficient cleaning. It has been found that it is necessary to provide some type of a brushing action across the tray surfaces to insure removing adequate material for cleaning.
Plastic trays are used for carrying baked products and these trays are set in all sorts of dirt. The products are many times delivered before a store opens so they are left outside. They get grimy and dirty. Most of the plastic trays have mesh bottoms, with relatively low height side walls and thus these walls have to be scrubbed both on the inside and outside, and the mesh bottoms also have to be scrubbed both on their interior and outer surfaces.